Inaugural Atlanta Food & Wine Festival

Last weekend, I had the privilege of attending the inaugural Atlanta Food & Wine Festival, a three-day celebration of Southern culinary culture. (Read about the preview article I wrote for Points North’s May issue here.) Since it was such a big weekend, what with Lila’s 25th birthday to celebrate, I only attended a select few seminars and sessions; still, I came away from the weekend with a greater level of appreciation for Southern food, wine and spirits, and a renewed sense of pride in Atlanta as an epicurean destination. I have to commend founders Elizabeth Feichter and Dominique Love for pulling this off with such success. Though there are certainly a few improvements that could be made in the details next year, I have a feeling this Southern tradition that has started out strong and will only get better and better with age. 

A few weekend highlights…

A Booze & Chocolate tasting seminar pairing three Nashville-based presenters: Olive & Sinclair southern artisan chocolates with Corsair Artisan Distillery cocktails mixed by James Hensley of The Patterson House:

If you’re a fan of whiskey and bourbon, check out Hensley’s recipes on his blog, The Spirit Monkey. Though the libations were a bit strong for my personal tastes, I loved considering how the flavors were intended to work well with the chocolate, and they even served a 102.5-proof chocolate bourbon made from cocoa hulls, which is otherwise a waste product for Olive & Sinclair. The chocolate itself, however, was simply phenomenal. Olive & Sinclair is a bean-to-bar chocolate maker, which means they slow roast and stone ground their own cocoa beans before combining them with brown sugar for bold flavors:

It was fascinating to taste the different flavors in each bar depending on the origin of the beans and the style in which it was made: rich, fudgy chocolate from Ghana, bright, citrusy chocolate from the Dominican Republic, a sweet ‘n spicy Mexican-style chocolate blended with cinnamon and chili, and a sneak taste of smoked nib brittle, a collaboration with Tennessee’s famous Allan Benton that will become available to the public this summer.

The Connoisseur Lounge, which was accessible only by top-level ticket holders (and media!) was an extra-special treat, indeed:

Located in an empty retail outlet connected to Loews Atlanta, the host hotel, the space was miraculously transformed by entertainment writer Danielle Rollins and designer Mallory Mathison Glenn into a beautiful and comfortable space to relax between sessions, chat with top tastemakers and indulge in the goodies coming forth from an immaculate Viking test kitchen along with freely flowing wine and spirits.

I hadn’t intended to attend the festival on Saturday, but simply couldn’t pass up the opportunity to experience a Breakfast Invigorated learning experience led by Chef Laurent Geroli of The English Grill at The Brown Hotel in Louisville, Ky. After serving up a decadent French toast kebab with tempura bananas, caramel and chocolate sauces (stay tuned for the recipe), Chef Geroli prepared a demonstration dish of the Kentucky Hot Brown, an open-faced sandwich of turkey and bacon covered in Mornay sauce, a Louisville tradition made famous by none other than The Brown Hotel itself:

On Sunday, Lila and I went back to the festival together to hit the Tasting Tents and Street Cart Pavilion as the last hurrah for her big birthday weekend. A few of our favorite vendors from the Tasting Tents included Becker Vineyards from Texas Hill Country, whose Claret was the hands-down favorite wine of the day, an Indian-spiced chicken and waffle from Atlanta’s Spice Route Supper Club, feta ice cream by Morelli’s in Atlanta, and French Broad Chocolates from Asheville, N.C., with flavors like lavender & honey and garden mint, featuring fresh mint harvested by kindergartners from Asheville’s Vance Elementary School.

While the energy in the tasting tents was exciting, I do believe the best part of the day was a leisurely stroll through the Street Cart Pavilion, which wasn’t nearly as crowded, making it easier to enjoy the treats coming from food trucks from across the Southeast. A few of our favorites:

 Barbecue sliders from STK, a female-centric steakhouse coming soon to Midtown... possible site for Lila's bachelorette party next spring?

Popsicles from Atlanta's own King of Pops were so refreshing on this hot day! Here, Lila poses with a Peach Basil Margarita pop, made with Patron.

Mini cupcakes from "Pinkie" Atlanta's Yum Yum Cupcake truck were almost too cute to eat... almost, but ultimately, I immensely enjoyed this bite of vanilla cake filled with dulce de leche and topped with white chocolate buttercream.

Hungry yet? Save the date! Atlanta Food & Wine Festival returns May 17 – 20, 2012.

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

In honor of ... well, whatever it is we're celebrating on Cinco de Mayo, I thought I’d share my top five favorite Mexican and pan-Latin restaurants in north metro Atlanta.

Cinco Mexican Cantina

Hunter and I have spent every Cinco de Mayo for the last three years here with our friends Caroline and/or Bryan (because rarely are they both in town at the same time). With locations in Suwanee and Cumming, there’s always a party and a good crowd at this hip, trendy restaurant, but the Cumming location also happens to have one of my favorite spots for al fresco dining in the suburbs, so we spend a lot of time here when the weather is right. There’s live music on weekends, a great view of the horse pastures across from Vickery Village, smooth agave margaritas and smoky salsa.

Tara Humata

Caroline and I first ate here for a review I wrote for Points North a few years ago, and went crazy over their tapas sampler, a selection of smoked salmon tostadas, grilled hanger steak with chimichurri, prawns in chipotle butter sauce and more. Now that Andrea is working in Alpharetta, the restaurant’s location on Windward Parkway also makes a great meeting point for our frequent lunch dates. We always sit in the same booth and order the burritos especial (the very best in town) and Jose margaritas – heavy on the orange and a little creamy, this is one of my all-time favorite libations.

INC Street Food

As the name suggests, this restaurant in downtown Roswell brings to life the street food culture of Latin America, with bright, bold graffiti decorating the walls (That’s me and the hubby at INC in my profile picture) and a menu inspired by roadside fare. I love the fried hominy in adobo seasoning with truffle oil that graces the table as soon as you sit down, and the exotic cocktail list is fun to explore. Favorites to date include the Tres Chiles Margarita with house-made jalepeno candy and Thatcher’s Pomegranate Paloma with Herradura, organic pomegranate liqueur and grapefruit juice. Read my past Points North review here.

Cheeky

I reviewed Cheeky when it first opened at The Avenue Forsyth, but with locations convenient to both work (at the Avenue) and home (on Peachtree Industrial Boulevard in Suwanee), Cheeky is quickly becoming one of my favorite hangouts. And no matter how many times I pore over the menu, considering trying something new, I always go back to a few tried-and-true favorites – the stuffed poblano pepper with mixed cheese and cherry tomato sauce and the taco trio (my favorite fillings are the crab cake and the veggie). There’s beer on tap at a few special tables, and a “Tricked Out” margarita list with unusual offerings like the Pink Lady (Asombroso “pink” tequila that has been aged in red wine barrels, lime mix and muddled strawberries).

Los Rios

This is definitely one of those hole-in-the-wall Mexican joints, but Los Rios in Cumming honestly serves up the best Mexican food around, plus it holds sentimental value because this is where I gather with a multi-generational group of some of my favorite women in the world - we even have a group picture on the wall! (Sadly, I don't have a copy of it to share here.) Los Rios makes a mean Texas Margarita, which we order by the pitcher, and delivers delicious chicken fajita quesadillas, black bean soup and pollo fundido.

Where will you celebrate Cinco de Mayo?

Points North's May Issue On Stands Now!

I got to do all sorts of fun foodie research for this issue, the most significant of which is my feature on the inaugural Atlanta Food & Wine Festival, which takes place May 19 - 22. A celebration of Southern food, the festival promises to be the ultimate epicurean experience with tasting tents, a street cart pavilion, food seminars, cooking demonstrations, special dinners and more with some of the greatest tastemakers in the South.

Not only did I get to visit festival headquarters (aka, “the war zone”) to meet with co-founder Elizabeth Feichter, but I also had the opportunity to chat with a few of the fantastic chefs and sommeliers who serve on the festival's Founders Council. I spoke with Chef Steven Satterfield of Miller Union, which has recently garnered a great deal of acclaim for Atlanta with nods in national magazines like Bon Appetit and Food & Wine; Chef Ford Fry of JCT Kitchen & Bar, who will be hosting “Pig Out, Texas Style,” one of the most highly anticipated festival fetes; and Gina Hopkins, sommelier and co-owner of Holeman & Finch Public House, H&F Bread Co. and Restaurant Eugene. Perhaps Hopkins summed it up best: “It’s one big bite of the South,” she said, and personally, I can’t wait for a taste.

I also had plenty of opportunities to indulge my sweet tooth this month in the name of research for our “Save Room for Dessert” feature in Food 4 Thought.

The chocolate lava cake at Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse in Dunwoody was the perfect culmination to what Hunter called “the best meal we’ve ever had.” Our primary reason for dining at Fleming’s was to sample their newest private label wine, the 46 Diamonds Cabernet Sauvignon, a Bordeaux-style blend from Napa Valley, which pairs perfectly with several of the restaurant’s succulent steaks. It was quite a treat indeed, as was everything we tasted that evening – the cajun barbecue shrimp appetizer, a porcini-rubbed filet mignon, chipotle cheddar macaroni and cheese, and, of course, that decadently delicious lava cake.

Having heard about all the sugary options that await at Alpine Bakery & Trattoria in Alpharetta, I enlisted the help of a fellow sweet tooth sweetie for this one – my mom. We’re both also big fans of Italian food, so we opted to split the Pollo Milano (grilled chicken, cremini mushrooms, sundried tomatoes, roasted garlic cream sauce with bowtie pasta) to make saving room for dessert a bit easier – a good call, as the portions here are huge. When it came time for dessert, though, we didn’t hold back. After laboring over the extensive list of cakes, pies, cheesecakes, pastries and cookies, we finally settled on a “slice” (more like a mini cake in itself) of coconut cake and the cheesecake truffle sampler, which came with six different flavors of cheesecake dipped in chocolate, and we took one bite of each and every one.

I popped into Aqua Terra Bistro in Buford one afternoon on a whim, and boy, am I glad I did. Their peanut butter cup is incredibly elegant, and the ultimate combination of everything I love in a dessert – smooth chocolate, sweetened peanut butter, caramelized bananas, thick caramel sauce and a dollop of creamy vanilla ice cream to balance it all out.

Got a favorite dessert that didn’t make it into our article? Let me know – perhaps a sweet tooth tour sequel is in order.

Cooking Classes at Barrington Hall

I entered Barrington Hall last week through the back door, straight into the kitchen, just like a personal guest at this majestic antebellum mansion in Roswell, which served as home to the city's co-founder, Barrington King, and multiple generations from his family before its preservation as a historic house museum in 2005. Here, I was greeted by a long, rectangular table set for eight with an olive green table cloth and empty, white plates, like blank canvases for the delicious works of art that were to come from our very own hands.

Since Points North is focusing more attention on food coverage these days, and our second annual Wine & Dine issue is in the works for October, I knew the cooking classes at this well-loved Northside venue would make a good story. Though this class was not full – this spacious kitchen can accommodate up to 10 – we were the “overflow” from the previous evening. What started as once-weekly cooking classes here at Barrington Hall have expanded to two installments for the most popular topics, like this particular evening’s “Cooking with Fresh Herbs.”

I always love cooking classes no matter what the topic, but I was particularly interested in this one, because my share with Cane Creek Farm’s CSA this summer includes all the pick-your-own herbs I want, but half-way through the class, I was considering growing my own. Our instructor for the evening was Chef John Wilson, a certified chef and owner of Culinary Vacations, Inc., which hosts cooking excursions to Asheville and even Europe in addition to various classes around metro Atlanta, and I can see immediately why his instruction is so sought-after; this man knows his way around a kitchen, and his charismatic style is incredibly engaging. 

Chef Wilson began by going over a few talking points about fresh herbs, accentuating each statement with his hands, and joking with the group to loosen us up. (My favorite comment of the evening was his response when someone asked how to tell when a cantaloupe is just right – “It’s like a relationship; it gives under pressure.”) I took notes furiously as he offered his personal advice for cooking with herbs – plant herbs in full sunshine and water once a day, never use more than three herbs in one recipe, preserve herbs by making pesto in the fall – and then it was time for the action to begin.

We gathered around a countertop, where we all had our own cutting boards and knives, for a collective cooking effort. Though one other woman was specifically interested in the herbs, most of my comrades were here for fun, or a general interest in cooking. There were two couples out for “date night,” a mother-daughter team, and a retired gentleman who simply takes pleasure in preparing food. (As it turned out, most of us were also cooking class aficionados, and the conversation over dinner turned to various venues we had visited, and why we all enjoyed this particular format at Barrington Hall).

For each course, Chef Wilson dished out assignments – while some of us minced garlic, others chopped parsley, tarragon and chives (“Paper thin, paper thin!”), and still others cubed bread, chopped vegetables, or measured ingredients. We all had the opportunity to hollow out our own tomatoes for a dish of Stuffed Baked Tomatoes with Fresh Herbs and spread a fragrant herb mixture over chicken breasts for a Rosemary Thyme Chicken Breast Bake.

After each course was properly prepped, Special Events Coordinator Bill Browning led the group on an abbreviated tour of Barrington Hall while we waited for the buzzer to chime. If you’ve never visited the early 19^th century home, this is quite a treat in itself. In addition the history of the house, Browning shares plenty of anecdotes that make you feel connected to those who lived (and surely cooked) here in the past. As we were heading back down the servant’s stairs into the kitchen, the scent of our herb-rich dinner was enough to make me swoon.

Supper started with our choice of red or white wine and a savory Summer Herb Cheese Spread with parsley, tarragon, chives, garlic, pepper and herbal vinegar, which is oh, so much richer and creamier than the Boursin cheese, a store-bought version. The baked chicken was just right – juicy and flavorful – and I can’t wait to recreate the baked tomatoes at home this summer with vine-ripe fruit from Cane Creek.

Dinner culminated with a finale of Summer Dessert Cheese made from ricotta, vanilla yogurt, mint and lemon juice. We spread it over chopped cantaloupe and strawberries, but Chef Wilson said it was great with fresh figs, and I will most certainly be giving that a try this August, with figs from my cousin Sarah’s tree (I’ll even feed her for sharing them with me).

Now, I’m officially hooked on fresh herbs. Later that week, I made a homemade goat cheese ranch dressing (a recipe from Gena Knox’s “Southern My Way” cookbook – more on that to come) with fresh chives. And I chopped them paper thin, of course. After all, I learned from the best at Barrington Hall.

Upcoming Cooking Class Schedule at Barrington Hall:

April 5: Spring in Tuscany

Pecorino and Cauliflower Frittata

Pork Loin Braised in Chianti

Sweet and Sour Zucchini

Pine Nut Cookies

April 19: Couples Grilling

Portabella Mushroom Sandwich with Fresh Basil Mayo

Grilled Corn Salad with Black Bean and Jicama

Chutney Glazed Fruit Kababs

June 7: Thai Favorites

Thai Cucumber Salad

Chicken and Eggplant Curry

Pad Thai with Shrimp

Fresh Ginger, Pineapple and Kiwi Toss

June 21: Summer in the French Countryside

Roasted Tomato Tart

Cornish Game Hens with Apricot Glaze

Pan Seared Asparagus

Individual Chocolate Souffles

July 19: Southwest Sizzle

Broiled Salmon with Chile Glaze

Creamy Cilantro Lime Slaw

Corn Pudding with Basil

Cornmeal Sugar Cookies

Aug. 2: Asian-Style Dinner Party

Spicy Sesame Noodles with Chopped Peanuts

Shrimp and Scallion Pancakes

Ginger Soy Marinated Flank Steak

Kaffir Lime and Lemongrass Sorbet

Aug. 16: Summer Cocktail Buffet

Bruschetta with Gorgonzola and Fresh Figs

Shrimp Cakes with Wasabi Vinaigrette

Hot and Spicy Beef Satay with Coconut Peanut Sauce

Smoked Salmon Cucumber Rolls

Watermelon Martinis

Aug. 30: Italian Summer

Caesar-Style Salad

Ribeye Steak with Parmesan, Arugula and Olive Oil

Soft Polenta

Fig Tart with Cardamom Orange Cream

Points North's April Issue On Stands Now!

Pick up a copy of Points North’s April issue or check out our interactive magazine to read my article about Cane Creek Farm (page 20), a certified naturally grown farm in Cumming. The best part of my job is the opportunity to uncover local gems such as this and to meet people like owner and farmer Lynn Pugh, whose passion for growing chemical-free produce for her community is incredibly inspiring.

After meeting her and touring her farm, I was so excited about her community supported agriculture (CSA) program that I recruited my friend Caroline to team up with me and join for the summer season. I cannot wait to start receiving my share of Cane Creek’s weekly harvest this May! The anticipation of all those farm-fresh fruits and veggies is so strong, it actually pains me to buy produce at the grocery store in the meantime. Expect many more posts about my CSA involvement to come!

Also in April, check out Food for Thought (pages 64 - 69) for my official review of Oyster Bay Seafood Café in Lawrenceville (the place with the euphoric French fries), and my review of Cumming Fish Market, which hasn’t had a dedicated post here on Impeccable Tastes, but could have, if only for it’s deliciously unique take on Key Lime Pie. (Maybe they’ll give me the recipe so I can try it out myself and write about it...)

Happy reading!

#Fail

I love the picture country songs paint of eating in the early years of marriage, like Kenny Chesney eating burnt suppers the whole first year in “The Good Stuff” and Brad Paisley proclaiming it charming when she lost all track of time and burnt the cake in “Little Moments.” But, though I’ve certainly burnt a thing or two in my time, that hasn’t been a real issue in mine and Hunter’s first year and a half of marriage. Rather than being forced to choke down charred suppers, my husband has had to endure my experiments in the kitchen.

More often than not, this is to his advantage. I cook at least once a week (often more), so he’s always well fed, and most of the time, the meals are incredibly tasty, if I do say so myself. But he’s definitely a “meat & potatoes” kinda guy, and though he’ll eat whatever I put in front of him, he has asked if I can just cook “normal” things every once in a while. I relent, for his sake and because those things he deems “normal” are often easy to throw together when I don’t have time to play (a few of his favorites are Paula Deen’s chicken in wine sauce and her Chicken Georgia, and good, ole chicken stir fry with store-bought teriyaki sauce, a staple in my cooking repertoire from college).

But most of the time, I still experiment. And sometimes, the results do not turn out as I’d hoped – like tonight’s pork chops with orange sauce, which looked simply stunning, but left something to be desired in terms of flavor. I can tell when Hunter doesn’t like something not because he complains, but because he doesn’t compliment it. In fact, I usually have to coax any negative opinions out of him. He didn’t care for the texture of the orange sauce, come to find out (too pulpy), plus, even I have to admit that he makes a killer seasoning mix for pork chops that this dish simply didn’t live up to. It doesn’t hurt my feelings when he doesn’t like something – I mostly want to know so I can contemplate how the dish might be improved the next time. Not that there usually is a next time – I’m too busy experimenting with new recipes to redo something we didn’t love the first time around.

This dish turned out to be a failure, and there will probably be many more of those to come. Still, just like Kenny and Brad, Hunter cleans his plate every time, bless his heart. I’m not sure if he does it to spare my feelings, or because he thinks its cute that I try, or just because he’s hungry. But I love him for it all the same.

Chocolate Walnut Cupcakes with Hazelnut Filling

All that thinking last week about Ferrero Rocher truffles made me want to try something creative in the kitchen, so I did a little research. Apparently, playing around with recreations of this confection is quite popular. I found recipes for Ferrero Rocher brownies, Ferrero Rocher tortes and homemade versions of the truffles themselves. Ultimately, I chose these Ferrero Rocher cupcakes by The Cupcake Project for my little experiment.

Though I followed The Cupcake Project’s recipe closely, what I ended up with was not the Ferrero Rocher tribute I had expected, mainly because I was missing a few key elements. I purposely eliminated the edible gold flakes she uses (they just didn’t seem practical for the casual family dinner I was baking for), but then I ran into a few problems at the grocery store. Not only could I not find hazelnut extract (The Cupcake Project recommend purchasing it here), I couldn’t find the hazelnuts themselves, OR the gold foil baking liners, which were really instrumental in making the association between the cupcakes and the Ferrero Rocher chocolates with their signature gold wrapping.

So I adapted. Instead of hazelnut, I used black walnut extract in the cupcakes themselves as well as in the chocolate ganache icing (who knew THAT would be more readily available?), and I replaced the chopped hazelnuts with chopped walnuts as well. To give them a touch of hazelnut flavor, I opted for Nutella instead of The Cupcake Project’s homemade filling, and I used plain, old paper baking liners. Because, really, who cares what they look like if they taste good? They turned out moist, rich and super chocolatey – and my family seemed to like them, which is really all that matters anyway.

Chocolate Walnut Cupcakes with Hazelnut Filling

Cupcakes

½ cup boiling water

6 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

¼ cup milk

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

1 tablespoon black walnut extract

½ cup unsalted butter, softened

10 tablespoons dark brown sugar

6 tablespoons granulated sugar

2 large eggs

1 cup all-purpose flour

½ + 1/8 teaspoon baking soda

¼ teaspoon salt

Nutella

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a bowl, whisk the boiling water into the cocoa until smooth, then whisk in milk, vanilla and black walnut extracts. In a large bowl (or, better yet, a stand mixer), cream together butter and sugars until light and fluffy, about 2 to 3 minutes. Next, beat in eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. In a separate bowl, sift together flour, baking soda and salt and add to egg/sugar mixture alternately with cocoa mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture and beating well after each addition. Line cupcake pan with wrappers and fill each one slightly more than ½ full. Bake for about 18 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool cupcakes on a wire rack.

When cool, use a small spoon to scoop out a hole in the center of each cupcake; fill each hole with Nutella, then replace the “cupcake holes” so the Nutella is “hidden” inside.

Chocolate Walnut Ganache

½ cup heavy cream

8 ounces (about 2 ½ cups) chocolate chunks

2 tablespoons light corn syrup

2 teaspoons black walnut extract

¾ cup finely chopped walnuts, toasted

Heat the cream on the stove until it boils. Mix chocolate into hot cream and stir to melt. Add corn syrup and walnut extract and blend well; stir in chopped walnuts and spread ganache on top of the cupcakes.

*Note: If you read The Cupcake Project’s post, she mentions doubling the cupcake recipe. I found this a bit confusing, and doubled the proportions she had listed, which made so many cupcakes, I had enough for more than a weeks’ worth of breakfasts (yes, I have a weakness for early morning sweets), and that was after my family put a serious dent in them. If you use the proportions I have listed here, this recipe should make about 16 cupcakes.